This past Sunday I was able to attend the ICR event that was set up by Miss Gavia. I made my way to Carmel Sunday afternoon where I attended a private lesson on Mandarin Chinese at Indy Translation and Language Center. I arrived at the doors where Miss Tina let me in and gave me the necessary materials in order to participate in the class activities. Everyone else in our ICR group started filing in, including the student who had a private lesson that day. Tina then placed these water mats in front of each of us for us to practice one. These mats were self drying and only required water and a paint brush. The mats had tracings of Chinese characters as well as the smaller lines that make them up. It was really interesting to trace them to get a grasp on how to create each symbol. There was a certain way to hold the brush in order to control it and keep a grip on it. The way you make the symbols is also strategic, in a sense that you press down harder in order to get a thicker stroke, and then pull up on the brush to get a thinner stroke. These techniques were critical in order to create the calligraphy that Chinese ancestors set forth several years ago. We also broke down a certain poem that Elon Musk posted in Chinese on social media recently. The poem talked about green-beans boiling in a pot and how they were both cut from the same vine. Tina told us that she thought there was a metaphor behind it that related to humans. How we are all created equally and stem from the same source. I thought her take on it was very interesting and eye opening!